Yay the Trio Challenge **rolls eyes**. ANYWAY As always take the below table with a grain of salt:

Now for the eighth week of competition in Season 8: Melissa originally received a 21 because she was injured that week and as thus her score was based off of the dance rehearsal footage taken earlier that day (or weekend).

I find it rather interesting that Emmitt is the only one that has not done either one of the dances that he is assigned this week in his original season.

Now… throughout the week last week people were asking what the cumulative scores were up to that point… so I decided to provide the following table for your information only:

As you can see Kirstie is significantly lagging behind the rest of the pack.

Also interesting to note is that Gilles/Peta were originally leading in cumulative scores for six weeks. Then in Week Seven Shawn/Derek took over the lead in Week Seven, then after the Marathon Melissa/Tony also joined in overtaking Gilles/Peta in cumulative scores.

And if you would like to see how the scores panned out from week to week as a comparison to the above graph:

Hope you found the above as interesting as I have in attempting to put this together.

My life can be summed up in the following two quotes: 1) "I am married to engineering and am its faithful wife by day, but at night my wanderlust takes hold and the arts becomes my jealous paramour." and... 2) "Engineering is my safety net. Writing is my passion. Acting is my escape when the other two become too much." So where does dancing fit in? Pretty much anywhere at this point... =)

How does Apolo constantly turn-in “pro” worthy dances week after week, and wind up in the bottom two on scores? Gilles did nothing. Oh LEN-rewatch the dance–there were 2 segments where he hid behind the big blue fluffy costumes. The only dancing he did was the show-boating on the table etc. etc. Emmitt — The dancing is just not there. Melissa WOW–most deserved. Shawn—great FreeStyle girl!

Well I can say I was disappointed. First of all I thought the tribute to veterans dances were really short, shorter than they should have been. I understand they had to get 2 dances each in but just felt like they’d just get started and then they were done.

I enjoyed everyone’s dancing, Im not a Giles fan but did like his salsa trio.

I liked Shawn’s trio but even I knew that Len would not like it and myself didn’t see enough salsa…..

I loved Apolo’s scores till Gilles & Emmitt were completely overscored. They don’t move….at all. I’m talking about their trio dances, not their ballroom ones. Kirstie is a goner, but not sure who else.

See, I knew Len would not like Shawn and Derek’s Samba. I said so before the show even started and fully expected them to be underscored. But a *7*??? That’s obscene. Combine that with his comments about going home (which probably means she isn’t) was just totally over the line and uncalled for.

I think anyone who agrees with that score has an agenda all there own.

Tonight was a bit disappointing. The dances were a little to short and as soon as I was getting into a dance it was over.

Emmitt’s dance was the most over scored dance of the night. That was just…lame. I like him, he seems fun, but he really is just not as a good as the others. It makes me sad that he’s prob going to outlast some of the more talented dancers.

Kirstie just needs to go home.

I really liked Apolo’s dances tonight. I did think the trio was a bit disappointing in that it seemed to focus on Karina as opposed to Apolo. I’m pretty sure they will make through the double elimination just fine though.

I really loved both of Melissa’s dances. Her Paso was my favorite trio of the night. It was adorable. I thought she had a great evening and I really hope she makes it through to next week. I’m scared though…

Shawn…I’m probably in the minority but I really didn’t like that trio. The cultural appropriation just made me feel so uncomfortable and there was very little Samba content. She danced it well but I was underwhelmed. Her Viennese Waltz was lovely though.

I agree with you Heidi…as a college professor I have to score and judge people’s writing all the time. There are many times I don’t like what they had to say, BUT, if they follow the rules, if they do research that is well-thought out, and their presentation is good, it doesn’t matter if I like it they still deserve the appropriate grade. Len is not a good judge when he can’t put aside his PERSONAL opinion and do the job appropriately and fairly.

actually there was a decent amount of samba content…just done in a 21st century kind of way…even Shirley Ballas (yes i know its mark’s mom) said that it was one of the most creative samba routines she has even seen- and she has seen ALOT. i mean how many times am i going to see some corny samba dance with bright colored outfits moving around the floor to lame music?! i mean it is the 15th season…i honestly can’t even remember a samba routine that i liked…but i bet you 3 years from now you will remember this samba…just like you most people do with most of derek’s dances…and the sad thing is most of you will realize it more so next season when you are watching boring a$$ dances when Derek is dunzo with this show! he has out grown it…moving onto greener pastures:)

It’s funny you say that, because on the afterparty (yeah, I watched that :P) one of the guests was a ballroom competitor and she said there was actually a lot of samba content. I do understand how the tribal feel might not appeal to some people though.

As far as Shawn’s Viennese waltz goes, I already knew Len would comment on not dancing enough in hold. His blatant underscoring has become ridiculously predictable.

I think the biggest joke about the show this year is that Len said he did not have an agenda. I think that his agenda is to try and get Shawn voted off this show. His 7 is completely unbelievable and then he actually said that Shawn did not have enough hold in her waltz. It was about the same as every other waltz but he did not say that to any other couple. I am so frustrated with him and his overscoring of Gilles. Going to make some more accounts to vote.

Honestly though in a way Len only HELPS Shawn and Derek get votes, in my opinion. We all know that the judges opinions really don’t matter. Yes there was samba but to me I would’ve rather seen that as a freestyle with the tribal feel. My opinion. Derek knows that Len isn’t going to like it but he’s trying to entertain viewers and they will return him the favor.

Im glad I wasn’t the only one who thought enmity was overscored. If I had to choose though I would rather Giles go over him (doubt that would happen).

As a Melissa (well more so Tony) fan I worry about them having such a high score. Look what happened to Sabrina.

Honestly though in a way Len only HELPS Shawn and Derek get votes, in my opinion. We all know that the judges opinions really don’t matter. Yes there was samba but to me I would’ve rather seen that as a freestyle with the tribal feel. My opinion. Derek knows that Len isn’t going to like it but he’s trying to entertain viewers and they will return him the favor. *also above I said salsa, I meant samba – long day*

Im glad I wasn’t the only one who thought enmity was overscored. If I had to choose though I would rather Giles go over him (doubt that would happen).

As a Melissa (well more so Tony) fan I worry about them having such a high score. Look what happened to Sabrina.

Ya’ll if it gives you an error wait a minute to see if your comment posts. Today is the highest traffic day of this season so far (we’re killing it and two hours before the end of the day ) and the site is a bit sluggish as a result.

Am I the only one up still voting…so here is the funny story…my son got the new Call of Duty video game out tonight. Yes he is a grown ass man and in the Navy…but he couldn’t wait. He is doing reserve duty and working near home because of my health issues. So he gets home tonight and I am teed off..and it is going to take the game 4 minutes to load and I said Ineeded to vent…so just jokingly he looks at his watch and says “go”…so for the next several minutes I vented and my language was shall we say “colorful” and he looked at me when I was done…”OMG mom you cussed like a sailor”…then we both burst into laughter because he was right…lol!!

IMO the judges have been so unfair and seem to have had an agenda to get both Shawn and Apollo out. For me they are the best dancers on this season with Melissa being right up there to make them the top 3. I was happy for Melissa and Tony tonight, but that horrible remark Len made to Shawn and a score of 7 was just uncalled for. Just made my blood boil.

I am with the others who think Emmitt was vastly overscored. For me he just does not stand out this season and while he may be a nice guy why do they point out his mistakes and not reflect it with the scores? I don’t know what they expect Apollo to do. They always praise him, but don’t match it up with the scores. Again, he finished 2nd from the bottom on the leaderboard. At least with the chart above Apollo is ahead, but he should be above Gilles.

IMO Kirstie and Kelly or Gilles could go tonight and I would be fine. I have no clue who will actually go because I have no idea of their fan base. I think Shawn will be fine and I so hope Apollo makes it.

I wonder if TPTB want someone who has not won before to take this. Who knows, but the judges always frustrate me, but this season more than ever and especially Len.

Yeah, well, if TPTB wanted someone who hasn’t won before to win this season, they shouldn’t have invited champions back. There’s a REASON they won the first time! Some because of killer freestyles (Shawn) some because of charming feel-goodness (Emmitt) some because they are really, really good at dancing and charming as hell and hot as hades (Apolo.

Shawn and Apolo are vastly improved over how they danced in their original seasons and have earned a return to the finals. Emmitt, not so much for me.

So worried that Apolo will be eliminated this week, a third double elimination, that I found this site and signed up to post. Happy to discover I’m not alone in some opinions. Go Apolo & Karina!!

My take on the 7 from Len on Shawn and Derek’s samba. Len’s comment was that it was “self-indulgent,” clearly directed at Derek and Mark. A revealing word choice, which encompasses the boys dancing shirtless and the pelvic thrusting, both of which can be argued as borderline obscene, beyond what can be overlooked as being merely a difference of personal taste. Len warned Derek about too many tricks and frippery in week 6.